After Aunt Veeya had left, Jenny looked at the burlap clothes she wore, and the basket of wheat bread in her hands; her face revealed that she was distracted.
“How time flies! Three years have passed just like that!” Jenny muttered to herself. It must have been 1 or 2 years since she had defected from her family, and it had been another year since she had escaped with Baelin to this place, and changed her name to Ginny.
Initially, when she had decided to elope with Baelin and was escaping the Argus Family’s assassination attempts, they had encountered numerous dangers during their journey. Thankfully, Baelin was already a Grand Knight, and hence they reached the peak of commoners’ lives. In addition, Jenny was an acolyte with the knowledge and experience of nobility. After escaping the incessant pursuit of soldiers and the many dangers nature had in store, Jenny finally crossed the border and arrived unharmed.
Although this small town was positioned at the border of the eastern Twilight Zone and was extremely remote, it was considered a safe location and no one had ever called on them.
“But…” Jenny gritted her teeth. Vengeance for her father! Her own hatred! Was she to just give up on them?
After several chaotic memories came to mind, Jenny unknowingly clenched her fists, until a voice roused her.
“I’m back! Do you want to see what I got?” Baelin, who was wearing a hunter’s outfit and carrying a bow and arrows, dramatically raised the pot in his hand.
“Yellow oil! This is high-grade yellow oil! I exchanged a grey-toothed snake for it! If you spread it on bread, it’s something that even royalty might not be able to enjoy!”
“You!” Jenny rolled her eyes and led Baelin into the house.
Though the house was not big, all necessities had been provided through Baelin’s capabilities. Even though they had to maintain a low profile, they were still living better than commoners.
In regards to the lives they were leading now, Baelin was naturally very content, but Jenny seemed to have other ideas.
After the door was closed shut, Jenny solemnly turned her head around.
“We need to leave!”
“Leave? Why? The environment here is so good!” Baelin was at a loss. Immediately after, his face tightened. “Could it be that the men from your family have tracked us down?”
“No! It’s war! The horde of darkness creatures is approaching soon, and the Dark Elven Empire might even commence their attack!”
Jenny smiled wryly. “You haven’t discovered anything after all the constant hunting you’ve been doing?”
“Now that you mention it, there does seem to be something like this!” Baelin rubbed his head. “Currently, the number of Dark Creatures has increased by a large amount. A few days ago I was chased by a giant wolf that was the size of a hill for almost an entire day!”
“Now you understand! With regards to the horde of darkness creatures, towns like ours are the least safe. Any small wave of attacks will be able to demolish the town. We have to move closer to the central region, or even the capital before we are safe from them!”
“But!” Baelin scratched his head, “I’m worried about our identities…”
“Although the Argus Family has very deep connections within the eastern regions, we are in the northern region, where they have much less influence. Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems!”
Jenny comforted him on the surface, yet she was not too confident on the inside. What she said only applied to regular humans; she had no confidence if the powers of Magi were involved.
Even if that was the case, they still needed to move!
Jenny was extremely aware of the looming threat of the horde of darkness creatures. Baelin was just a Grand Knight, even with her might as a level 2 acolyte, they would only be swept away by that force.
However, with her drive to survive and encouragement from her hatred, Jenny had advanced into a level 2 acolyte in these three years, and could now cast rank 0 spells with some effort.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you then!” Baelin smiled boorishly. “However, can’t we leave in two days? Uncle Veeya’s birthday is approaching, we have to at least congratulate him before setting off!”
Aunt and Uncle Veeya were a couple in the small town that had played a huge role in Baelin and Jenny’s settlement here. Hence, no matter what, Baelin had wished to leave the town after the birthday celebration.
“Two days is doable!”
Jenny bit her lips. Large-scale battles often took a long time to prepare, so two days was not a significant amount.
However, it was regretful that, sometimes, the events in the world have anomalies.
For those in northern Twilight Zone, the Wheel of Fate was beginning to slowly turn…
A Coincidence
On a dark field, a group of cavalry chased after a lone figure.
The fleeing figure was a strange sight. He floated a few metres above the ground and had a pair of white translucent wings sprouting from his back. Each flap of these wings propelled him forward a great distance.
Behind the winged figure was a group of knights chasing after it! These knights rode on large spiders, each with eight brown, clawed legs. There were also icy blue stripes on them, and their eyes shone with bloodlust.
These were Underground Winter Spiders, the mounts of elite dark elves.
The knights riding on these spiders were not humans, but tall, slim creatures with exquisite skin; they had beautiful androgynous contours on their faces, with sharp ears and silver eyes that granted them vision in the dark.
*Bang!* The figure that was escaping in front suddenly turned his head, which revealed his handsome features and pointed ears, before he started chanting something undecipherable while swinging his arms backwards.
Five crimson red fireballs were fired out of his palm but were all dodged by the Underground Winter Spiders, exploding on the ground.
Surprisingly, the escaping figure was a dark elf as well!
“They really think highly of me huh, even sending the Underground Winter Spider knights after me!” The silhouette continued to escape but was unable to break away from the knights chasing after him.
Not only could these Underground Winter Spiders move at an incredible speed, they could crawl over any terrain, regardless of whether it was in mountains, fields or even the misty canyons. Their advance could not be stopped.
“Memphis! How dare you betray the glory of the Dark Lord? I will make you suffer, and offer your head as a sacrifice to the matriarch!”
The knight in charge wore a thin layer of leather armour. The Underground Winter Spider below him was a bit larger than the ones around it, and its upper body was covered with golden stripes.
He inhaled deeply, and the Underground Winter Spider increased its speed. Immediately after, he aimed his bow and shot an arrow that flew elegantly, the arrowhead containing a secret, constantly-glowing rune.
*Zoom!*
A black ray of light emitted out of his hand, piercing through the sky and eventually landing on Memphis’ back!
“Ahh!”
A fiery red barrier of light appeared behind Memphis’ body, but when the arrow came into contact with the shield, the barrier could not even last a second and shattered instantly.
The black arrow continued its flight, and with its unknown strength pierced Memphis from behind, protruding out of his chest.
Memphis screamed, and the glowing arrow in his back disappeared. He collapsed to the ground, his flowing blood forming a pool of red streaked with silver.
*Hiss Hiss!*
The knights in the front surrounded him.
“Cut off his head!” The knight in charge heartlessly said and motioned to his men, resulting in two of his men walking up.
At this moment, the expression on the knight’s face changed. “No! Fall back!”
But it was too late.
*Bang!*
A strong wave of energy emanated from the body of Memphis, who was suddenly ho
lding a scroll.
Two huge balls of light were shot out, and the two approaching knights were burnt to ashes, creating a huge cloud of smoke and dust.
After waiting for the aftermath of the explosion to subside, the knight in charge stepped forward with an irritated look on his face, but by that moment Memphis had already disappeared from the ground.
“Find him for me!” His face contorted in anger. “He has been injured by my curse; he will not be able to travel far!”
……
Baelin aimed with his crossbow, and it cut through the air with a *swoosh,* hitting the wild boar in front of him.
The wild boar squealed loudly, bleeding nonstop, but all Baelin did was to pull his crossbow bolt out.
“Haha! Uncle, Baelin’s present is here!”
After a fierce battle, Baelin smiled slightly while looking at the beast lying on the floor.
At this moment, a silhouette appeared from the other side of the battle field.
“Eh? Who is this?”
Baelin walked up, and the silhouette turned around, revealing a handsome white face….
Two hours later, Jenny was on her way home when she saw the dark elf that Baelin brought back. Putting her hand on her forehead, she groaned in despair and shouted, “You idiot! We’ve already offended the higher-ups and caused enough trouble…….”
Hearing Jenny’s complaints, Baelin innocently touched his head “I had no choice, seeing how pitiful he looks…….”
“Pitiful? Do you know what that is? It’s a dark elf! He is a purebred dark elf!”
Jenny’s face was flushed.
“This may be the border, but if you bring a dark elf, it could bring so much trouble to the town!”
In these recent three years, the Dark Elven Kingdom had frequently caused much insecurity and restlessness among the people!
Just with one look at the dark elf’s luxurious clothing, Jenny only had one thought, and that was whether or not the dark elf was like her, a member of nobility on the run because of a failed power struggle.
Thinking about this connection, Jenny started to break out into a cold sweat.
Regarding the cruelness of power struggles, she finally understood and knew that regardless of where this Elf hid, in the end, it would just be extending an endless cycle of fleeing and being hunted down. On top of this, her own people would suffer the consequences!
Thinking up to here, her eyes flashed with ferocity, but could only sigh when she saw the confused and helpless Baelin. Her tone also changed to one that was milder.
“Whatever happens, we must send him away quickly. I’m sure you don’t want to cause Aunt and Uncle Veeya any more trouble, right?
Baelin scratched his head. “Oh, alright!”
……
At Baelin’s former hunting ground, a bunch of Underground Winter Spider knights surrounded a pit where Memphis the dark elf was concealed.
A small Underground Winter Spider that was no bigger than a dog placed one foot into the cave, and then clicked at the knights.
“He said that aside from Memphis’, a human’s scent was found”
“Human?” the expression on the leader’s face sank, but then he suddenly started laughing maliciously. “No wonder Memphis is well known for peace! He has already been making connections with the humans”
He gestured to his men, “Follow them. I don’t care who dares to protect him, I want to chop their heads off personally as sacrificial offerings!”
“Yes my Lord!”
The Underground Winter Spider knights responded in order. The relationship between the people of the Dark Elven Kingdom and Twilight Zone was not the best. Crossing the border by a little bit was not such a big issue, but currently, it looked as if a new war was about to break out. Even so, they could still kill a few more men, steal their food, and enslave their women!
At this point in time, the eyes of many Underground Winter Spider knights flashed red.
An hour later, a horse wagon pulled by an old, slow, horse.
Baelin was guiding the horse, while Jenny was lying on a pile of straw with the dark elf that Baelin had previously saved.
The elf’s clothes were cut open at the front, revealing a skinny body. His delicate chest was marred by an arrow wound bordered by a black aura, shaped like a spider and continually expanding.
“How is he?” Baelin turned to ask.
“The external injuries are almost healed, but a curse was cast on him, and I do not have any ideas or methods to cure it!” Jenny raised her hands.
Although this injury was shocking, what surprised Jenny even more was the Elf’s vitality, which had allowed him to persevere and survive this long while suffering from the combination of such a serious injury and curse.
“The more that I think about it, the more I feel that this is not such a good idea. Judging from the curse, it is obvious that there is an official Magus after this fellow. If we do this, we will definitely infuriate his opponents!”
Jenny’s face turned gloomy.
Upon hearing that, Baelin could not help but tremble—this was an instinct that had been cultivated over many years. “Is an official Magus something like Lord Leylin?”
“Yes! Do you now understand how much trouble you have brought us?” Jenny gave Baelin an arrogant look.
“But haven’t we already saved him?” Baelin bitterly laughed. “What else can we do now then?”
All of a sudden, a burst of flames from afar roused Baelin from his thoughts.
In the dark, vast surroundings, this blaze was getting more and more obvious, almost dyeing the colour of the entire sky a fiery red.
“That is…. Our town!!!” Baelin stopped the horse, a frightened look on his face, “What happened? Why would this big fire suddenly appear?”
Jenny had a bad premonition. At this time, Baelin turned the horse without hesitation and headed towards the direction of the fire.
“Are you crazy?” Jenny cried out loud.
“Uncle Veeya and the rest are still inside, I want to save them!”
“They can’t be saved; can you calm down a little?” Jenny said with an agitated tone.
“What? How can you be like that? Have you forgotten? Aunt Veeya has treated you so well all this time!” Baelin said as he choked on a breath of air.
“This is not…”
“Sigh….”
While the two were arguing, the dark elf in the wagon suddenly coughed and woke up.
“A human!” He blurted out in the Twilight Zone’ Language.
Jenny’s heart went cold. The dark elves spoke a different language from humans, and this elf’s proficiency in their language was jarring.
In the subterranean world, knowledge was a trademark of nobility, and mastery of foreign languages was prominent amongst them.
When she was young, Jenny had been taught the languages of dark elves, gnomes, and even grey dwarves by a private tutor. Learning them despite the physiological differences was simply a nightmare! And yet, this dark elf spoke so cleanly that it took Jenny by surprise.
“Where is this place?” the dark elf asked as he sat up and looked at the lost Baelin.
“This is the Twilight Zone. Who are you?”
“I’m Memphis, and I need to go now. I’ve given you enough trouble already; I’m really sorry!”
The dark elf named Memphis had an apologetic look on his face.
Destiny
Memphis struggled and wanted to get up. But immediately, the spider made of dark aura on his chest let out a hiss. His face went pale, and he fell back down as large beads of sweat rolled down his face.
*Shuffling*
Baelin suddenly heard a mild, yet periodic rumble.
“It’s coming from the town! Did someone survive?” Baelin beamed with delight.
In contrast, Memphis’ face suddenly changed. “It’s the footsteps of the Underground Winter Spiders! They have caught up with us!”
A short while later, the silhouett
es of five Underground Winter Spider Knights appeared before Baelin’s eyes.
“Memphis! You’re really here!”
“That’s great, we actually found you!”
“His head will definitely give us some merit!”
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